The 31-year-old Pride and M-1 veteran released an open letter to
his fans, citing a chronic injury and a lack of time for his family
as contributing factors in his decision.

“Unfortunately, I am no longer able to perform in the ring because
of health problems caused by old injuries,” the statement reads. “I
want to thank my fans for their support, for sticking with me
despite everything [that was said] about me.”

The younger brother of one of the greatest fighters of all time,
Fedor
Emelianenko, Aleksander rose to fame fighting in Japan. During
his stint with Pride FC from 2003 to 2006, the heavy-handed slugger
accumulated a 6-2 professional record with notable wins over UFC
veteran Assuerio
Silva, Olympic judo gold medalist Pawel
Nastula and former Pride number one contender Sergei
Kharitonov.

Despite enjoying significant success in the Land of the Rising Sun
and Russia, the heavily-tattooed three-time combat sambo world
champion never managed to step out of the larger-than-life shadow
of his older brother. His sporting situation worsened when he
allegedly tested positive for hepatitis ahead of his fight with
Paul
Buentello in July 2008. Emelianenko has refuted the reports,
though he never applied for another license to fight stateside nor
was tested by an independent laboratory afterwards. He fought
exclusively in Russia for the final five years of his career.

Emelianenko’s retirement follows only six months after his older
brother stepped away from the sport after back-to-back first-round
knockouts of Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi
Ishii and former three-time UFC heavyweight title contender
Pedro
Rizzo. With the Emelianenko brothers now enjoying their
retirements, the Nogueira brothers -- Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira and Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira -- are now uncontested as MMA’s
longest-serving and most successful active brother pair.

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